Interesting Facts About Cricket !!!

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the runs scored by the batting team. Here are some interesting facts about this game :-

1. The game of cricket is the second most popular game in the world, second only to soccer. Cricket in its early days in England was considered a child's game, not to be played by serious adults.

2. The longest cricket match in history occurred in 1939 between England and South Africa. The match lasted for 14 days and finally ended in a tie.

3. Finally in the year 1788 the "Laws of Cricket" were born. The Laws were written by the Marylebone Cricket Club.

4. Sachin Tendulkar is the first batsman to be dismissed (run out) by using the television replays by the third umpire, Jonty Rhodes was the fielder. Next day,in the same test match,Jonty Rhodes was given run out by the umpire.This time the fielder was none other than Sachin Tendulkar.!!

5. The ICC was formed in 1909. The Imperial Cricket Conference was formed to govern the laws of cricket. The ICC is known today as the International Cricket Conference.

6. A match between Barbados and British Guyana in 1946 saw an over with 14 balls in which there were no wides or no balls ! The 8 ball over was in force and the extra six deliveries were due to umpiring miscounting !!!

7. SHAHID AFRIDI used a bat borrowed from Waqar Younis to score the fastest century in a One-Day International.!!

8. The only law of Cricket that has not had any changes or modifications is the length of the pitch.

9. Geoff.Boycott was the one who faced the first ball in One-Day cricket. Graham Mc-Kenzie was the bowler.

10. In the first ever Test in 1877, Australia beat England by 45 runs. 100 yrs later,in the Centenary Test ,the result was exactly the same.!!

11. The 6 balls over were first introduced in 1900.

12. Hassan Raza is the youngest player to play an International Test match as he was 14 years 227 days at that time!

13. Cricket has appeared in the Olympics only twice. The first time was in 1896 in Athens, however, when it came down to it there were not enough teams to compete so the competition did not occur. Then, in 1900 at the Paris Olympics, only two teams were able to compete: Great Britain and France. The winner, Great Britain, received the gold medal.

14. The first century in Test cricket was scored by Charlie Bannerman of Australia in 1877.

15. The first bowler to take 10 wickets in a Test innings was Jim Laker in 1956.

16. In a test match in Faisalabad in 1997-98 ,Mushtaq Ahmed was bowling to Pat Symcox.Symcox missed the ball,which went on to knock the middle stump.However,the heat had fused together the bails and they did not fall.Symcox went on to make 81,his second highest test score..!!

17. Today most of batsman records belong to Sachin Tendulkar: First 200 in ODIs, Most Runs in ODIs and Test Matches, 100 International Hundreds and so so on...

18. Geoff.Boycott was the one who faced the first ball in One-Day cricket. Graham Mc-Kenzie was the bowler.
19. Only four test series have ended 0-0 with all five matches being drawn. India was involved in three of them, including two in a row against Pakistan.

20. The first batsman to twice score a hundred in each innings of a Test was England’s Herbert Sutcliffe in 1925 and 1929.

21. The first player to score 100 runs and take 10 wickets in the same Test was Australia’s Alan Davidson in 1960.22. The first batsman to share in 50 century partnerships in Tests was India’s Sunil Gavaskar.

23. Sri-Lanka lost their last six wickets for 8 runs off 371 balls in the game vs. Australia at Melbourne in January 1990.

24. Four Stumps !!!! -- An experimental game was played at Lords in 1963 to look at the effects of adjusting two features of cricket : the size of the wickets and the LBW rule,in order to create a wicket of width 11 inches rather than 9 inches,four stumps were used in that trial match.

200,000th IPL ticket sold in UAE

Tickets for last few UAE matches on sale as the rush rises

MEDIA RELEASE

The 2014 season of the Pepsi IPL is well and truly underway.

The 200,000th ticket for the UAE leg was sold yesterday. Eight of the first fifteen match-days have been sold out, or are close to selling out.

Fans who want to savour the excitement of the Pepsi IPL 2014 in the UAE are advised to purchase tickets soon. Based on current forecasts, the only matches where tickets will be available on match-day at the stadium box office will be those played at Sharjah, on Sunday, 20 April, and Tuesday, 22 April.

Tickets can be purchased in the following ways:

AT THE STADIA


·Dubai International Stadium Box Office, based at Dubai Sports City.

·Abu Dhabi Cricket Club offices, Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi : from10:00 am (local time)

·Sharjah Cricket Stadium

LULU HYPERMARKETS


·Dubai: Al Barsha, Al Qusais, Al Karama, Arabian Centre

·Sharjah: Al Wahda, Al Nahda, Mai Saloon

·Abu Dhabi: Al Wahda Mall, Khalidiya Mall, Mushrif Mall, Madinat Zayed, Capital Mall, Al Raha Mall, Mazyad Centre

ONLINE

Tickets can be purchased on www.iplt20.com or www.ticketmaster.ae

Those purchasing tickets should familiarize themselves with the terms and conditions, which can be accessed on the link http://www.iplt20.com/about/2014/terms-and-conditions/166/tickets-terms-and-conditions

It needs to be noted that tickets are strictly not transferable.Tickets are for the personal use of the Holder only, and they should not be offered for sale, auctioned, exchanged, ceded, sold or transferred, whether in a commercial or promotional context.

Sanjay Patel

Hony. Secretary, BCCI

Dropped Kallis catch cost us match: Malinga

MI pacer rues the missed chance but feels great about his bowling form

Cricket is a game of innovation as much as it is of tradition and class. You need to keep growing; stagnation will lead to the opposition cracking the code to break you and defeat you. However, there are some weapons that never go blunt. One of them is the perfect yorker. Lasith Malinga will testify.

The Sri Lankan slinger has been crushing toes at the international level since 2004, and even the best batsmen still fall victim to his pin-point accuracy. In the very first match of Pepsi IPL 2014, the Mumbai Indians pacer weaved his magic by returning 4-0-23-4 against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Even though MI were beaten hook, line and sinker by 41 runs, Malinga sounded a warning to all IPL teams for their forthcoming battle with the Mumbai-based team.

After the match, Malinga spoke with mixed feelings. While he was pleased with his own form and mental frame of mind, he rued dropping the catch that cost MI the match. As he expressed satisfaction of beginning the season with a bang personally, he hoped that MI learn from this loss and get stronger.

Here are excerpts from his exclusive post-match interview with iplt20com:

Good to be back in business right from game-one?

Yes, I bowled well today and it was good to be among wickets straight away. We lost as a team, which is disappointing, but this was just the first game and the team is confident we will gain momentum as we go forward into the tournament. We will treat this match as a learning experience and improve upon the various aspects going forward.

Personally, are you carrying the confidence of the recent World T20 win?

Yes, it was wonderful to be part of the winning Sri Lankan team. The T20 format is very tough on the bowlers, but I am really feeling good about my bowling at the moment. I am in a good mental space and am bowling well.

Gautam Gambhir is one of the very few players in the world who play you well. Was it particularly satisfying to get him out on a duck with a perfect yorker?

Yes, it was. But that was my job. It is very crucial to get a breakthrough in the first six overs. I did that today, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.

In the hindsight, do you think you give away 30 runs too many?

Yes, we did. We bowled really well in the first 10 overs, but let them off the hook after that. We let Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey build a very large partnership and then they had a couple of really big overs. What really cost us the game was the catch I dropped of Kallis when he was on 34.

To lead is to create leaders: Gambhir

KKR captain speaks of his leadership style and the team’s new buys for Pepsi IPL 2014

A good leader strives to build a team of individuals who will readily line up in front of a raging truck for him. And every team longs for a leader who would take the first position in that line. How one follows can tell a great deal about how he would lead.

Here’s a little story. Before he was about to make his captaincy debut for India, in the 2010 home ODI series against New Zealand, Gautam Gambhir was asked if he would continue to field at the perilous forward short-leg position – at which he took many a blow to his knees – even when he is the captain. Gambhir smiled and said, “Yes, I will”. Sure enough, he did. Not only for India but also for his IPL franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders. It were small yet significant things like this that should be credited for KKR’s surge to the IPL title in 2012. Gambhir led by an example and his team followed.

Now, as he prepares to lead them in another season of IPL, Gambhir is pretty pleased with the squad that KKR have formed in the 2014 Player Auction.

In an interview with iplt20.com, the KKR captain spoke about the new buys of the franchise and gave an insight into his leadership methods.

What is your overall take on the players procured by KKR in the auction?

I’m very happy with what we have got. I believe that when you select a player, you do it knowing that he can win you matches. Therefore, I believe that all 21 players we have picked are match-winners. I did seek a few players in particular and have got most of them. I would not like to name them here but overall I am quite pleased with the squad we have.

In the last couple of years we have seen that slow bowling has been KKR’s strength. Was it an agenda to get some genuine quickies in Morne Morkel, Pat Cummins and Umesh Yadav?
We have had quality pacers like Brett Lee, Marchant de Lange, James Pattinson and Ryan McLaren in our ranks in the past. Since we play most of our matches at Eden Gardens, where the wicket is slow and low, we generally field a spin-heavy attack. That must have given people the perception that we rely a bit too much on the slower bowlers.

Was the strengthening of pace department done also keeping in mind that IPL may move overseas this year?

I am a firm believer that it’s the bowlers who win you matches, no matter the format. As a captain, I am a big fan of having raw pace at my disposal because when you are quick through the air, the surface becomes irrelevant. Yes, at the back of my mind, I was thinking on the lines of having an appropriate pace attack in case the tournament moves to South Africa. However, now that we are playing in the UAE and India, we still have all bases covered.

Wrist spinners are often at the receiving end in T20 cricket. What was the reason behind investing so much on Piyush Chawla?

Wrist spinners are wicket-takers and we thought it would be good to have one. Also, until the last year we had young spinners like Sarabjeet Ladda and Iqbal Abdullah but this time we wanted a more experienced hand. Besides, Piyush can also give us some handy runs down the order.

Do you reckon that the 2014 auction has created a sort of level playing field for all franchises?
That’s right. This auction seems to have worked for every franchise, whether they wished to retain the core group of players – like MI and CSK did – or decided to form a team from the scratch, like DD. There was an equal opportunity for all teams to pick players of their choice.

How important was it for you to get Yuvraj Singh in your team? His bid price went up by Rs. 4 crore after KKR started bidding for him.
Yuvi is a match-winner, a once in a lifetime player. We wanted him badly as he could have been a real game-changer for us. I met him after the auction and told him he should thank KKR for those extra 4 crore he got after aggressive bidding from us. But yes, with Yuvraj in their ranks joining the likes of Virat Kohli – who has been batting like a dream –, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers, RCB are now a real batting powerhouse

Now let’s talk about your captaincy. We have seen you invest a lot of time in the nets with youngsters during IPL. Is it your way of giving something back to the game?
I believe that being a leader off the field is as important as being a captain on it. Off the field leadership includes aligning a player to the ideology of the team, helping him ease into the group and dispel any doubts he might have by having a heart-to-heart chat with the player. This is what I try to do while speaking with youngsters during practice sessions. Besides, I have had a career filled with highs and lows and I believe I can help the younger players by sharing my experiences with them. If he is going through a tough situation that I have faced earlier, it might help him to know how I dealt with it.

You always emphasize on team over individuals but there is no denying of the fact that individuals make the team. How important is defining roles so the team works in cohesion?
It is very important, especially so in a tournament like the IPL where a dressing room consists of people from varied cricketing cultures. As a player it becomes easier for you to contribute when you know exactly what the team expects from you. I am a great believer in team cultures and I think defining the specific roles provides a good base for having a positive team environment. At KKR we stress on individual leadership and encourage players to not only lead themselves but also small groups within the team. I believe that every system is judged by the legacy of the leaders it creates.

You are not very good in hiding your emotions on the field. Is that something you want to change or will we always see an expressive Gautam on the field?

Yes, I tend to be pretty candid about my feelings both on and off the field. That’s how I have always lived my life – I say things like I see them and feel about them. The second thing is, I want to win at all costs and that, at times, leads to heated situations on the field. My methods of leading a team are pretty straightforward. Rather than beating about the bush, I like to explicitly state exactly what I expect from my players. For instance, while leading Delhi in this year’s Ranji Trophy, I made it very clear to the batsmen that since we were playing most matches on green-tops, the onus would be on us to lay platforms for the bowlers. I don’t look for individual goals or brilliance but rather try to create a situation where the team benefits from every individual’s actions.

Pepsi IPL 2014 Player retention list

A total of 24 players have been retained by their respective franchises

MEDIA RELEASE
The window for the franchises to retain players for the 2014 Pepsi IPL season closed at 5:00 pm today. 
Twenty four players have been retained, including fourteen Indian players (of which three are uncapped) and ten overseas players:

Chennai Super Kings
Ravichandran Ashwin
India

Dwayne Bravo
West Indies

MS Dhoni
India

Ravindra Jadeja
India

Suresh Raina
India
Kings XI Punjab
David Miller
South Africa

Manan Vohra
India (uncapped)
Kolkata Knight Riders
Gautam Gambhir
India

Sunil Narine
West Indies
Mumbai Indians
Lasith Malinga
Sri Lanka

Kieron Pollard
West Indies

Ambati Rayudu
India

Rohit Sharma
India

Harbhajan Singh
India
Rajasthan Royals
Stuart Binny
India (uncapped)

James Faulkner
Australia

Ajinkya Rahane
India

Sanju Samson
India (uncapped)

Shane Watson
Australia
Royal Challengers Bangalore
AB De Villiers
South Africa

Chris Gayle
West Indies

Virat Kohli
India
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Shikhar Dhawan
India

Dale Steyn
South Africa


Ranjib Biswal, Chairman IPL, commented: “The regulations were drafted taking into account franchise, player and fan feedback.  Continuity of the core players in the teams is very important and the retention of these twenty four players, coupled with the “rights to match” (RTM) to be used in the auction, is a good sign.  I am very pleased to see three uncapped Indian players in the list of players retained.  The IPL is a great platform for young talent.”
Going into the Player Auction scheduled to be held on 12 & 13 February 2014 at the ITC Gardenia Hotel, Bengaluru, the status for each franchise is as follows:


No. of players retained in advance of the Player Auction
Salary Cap left for the 2014 Player Auction Rs. crore
No. of RTM  for the 2014 Player Auction
Chennai Super Kings
5
21
1*
Delhi Daredevils
0
60
3
Kings XI Punjab
2
43.5
2
Kolkata Knight Riders
2
38
2
Mumbai Indians
5
21
1
Rajasthan Royals
5
22.5
1
Royal Challengers Bangalore
3
30.5
1
Sunrisers Hyderabad
2
38
2
* RTM may not be used for a capped Indian player.

IPL 7 starts April 16. Check out the schedule

The seventh edition of the Indian Premier League kicks-off in the United Arab Emirates on April 16 with a match between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi.
The UAE was awarded hosting rights for the first 20 matches of the cash-rich Twenty20 extravaganza because of a clash in dates with the general elections in India.
On May 2, second phase of the league commences with matches in India, when Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders meet in Ranchi.
Ten cities -- Ranchi, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Cuttack, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai and Mohali -- will host 40 matches of the India leg.
While the Qualifier 1 and Eliminator will be held at Chennai's M A Chidambaram Stadium on May 27 and May 28, Qualifier 2 and the final will be at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on May 30 and June 1 respectively.
Check out the complete schedule:
DateMatchVenueTime (IST)
April 16Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight RidersAbu Dhabi8pm
April 17Delhi Daredevils vs Royal Challengers BangaloreSharjah8pm
April 18Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI PunjabAbu Dhabi4pm
April 18Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan RoyalsAbu Dhabi8pm
April 19Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai IndiansDubai4pm
April 19Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi DaredevilsDubai8pm
April 20Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI PunjabSharjah8pm
April 21Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi DaredevilsAbu Dhabi8pm
April 22Kings XI Punjab vs Sunrisers HyderabadSharjah8pm
April 23Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super KingsDubai8pm
April 24Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight RidersSharjah8pm
April 25Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Daredevils Dubai4pm
April 25Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai IndiansDubai8pm
April 26Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers BangaloreAbu Dhabi4pm
April 26Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI PunjabAbu Dhabi8pm
April 27Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai IndiansSharjah4pm
April 27Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super KingsSharjah8pm
April 28Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers BangaloreDubai8pm
April 29Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan RoyalsAbu Dhabi8pm
April 30Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers HyderabadDubai8pm
May 2Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight RidersRanchi8pm
May 3Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI PunjabMumbai4pm
May 3Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan RoyalsDelhi8pm
May 4Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers HyderabadBangalore8pm
May 5Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight RidersAhmedabad4pm
May 5Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super KingsChennai8pm
May 6Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers BangaloreMumbai8pm
May 7Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight RidersDelhi4pm
May 7Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super KingsCuttack8pm
May 8Rajasthan Royals vs Sunrisers HyderabadAhmedabad8pm
May 9Royals Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI PunjabBangalore8pm
May 10Delhi Daredevils vs Sunrisers HyderabadDelhi4pm
May 10Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super KingsMumbai8pm
May 11Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight RidersCuttack4pm
May 11Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan RoyalsBangalore8pm
May 12Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai IndiansHyderabad8pm
May 13Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan RoyalsRanchi4pm
May 13Royals Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi DaredevilsBangalore8pm
May 14Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kings XI PunjabHyderabad4pm
May 14Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai IndiansKolkata8pm
May 15Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi DaredevilsAhmedabad8pm
May 18Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers BangaloreChennai4pm
May 18Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight RidersHyderabad8pm
May 19Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai IndiansAhmedabad4pm
May 19Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI PunjabDelhi8pm
May 20Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers BangaloreHyderabad4pm
May 20Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super KingsKolkata8pm
May 21Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai IndiansMohali8pm
May 22Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers BangaloreKolkata4pm
May 22Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers HyderabadChennai8pm
May 23Mumbai Indians vs Delhi DaredevilsMumbai4pm
May 23Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan RoyalsMohali8pm
May 24Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super KingsBangalore4pm
May 24Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers HyderabadKolkata8pm
May 25Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi DaredevilsMohali4pm
May 25Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan RoyalsMumbai8pm
May 27Qualifier 1Chennai8pm
May 28EliminatorChennai 8pm
May 30Qualifier 2Mumbai8pm
June 1FINALMumbai8pm